Whether you realize it or not, your morning routine is arguably the most important part of your day as it can set you up for a day of calm and productivity or a day of chaos and stress.
This is something that Dr Rangan Chatterjee, a UK-based physician, author and podcaster, has discussed in a video he recently shared on Instagram.
Importance of the morning routine
Posted on April 2, the video sees Dr Chatterjee taking a walk in the countryside and discussing the importance of creating a morning routine.
“We all actually have morning routines, whether we think we do or not,” he says to begin the video. “The real question is, were we intentional about creating it?”
“We know from the research that most of what we do each day is habit,” he explains. “We’re not consciously making a choice each day about what to do, we’re just doing what we did the day before.”
“For example, your morning routine may be to wake up in bed, hear your alarm go off on your phone, pick up your phone, look at the news, look at your work emails, look at social media and then realize that you’re running late for work and so you have to rush out of bed,” he says. “And the state you created in the morning can last all morning and have implications for the rest of your day.”
“Your morning routine could also be that you charge your phone in a different room, you wake up without it, you do a few minutes of deep breathing practice on your bed, you write down three things you’re grateful for and then have a cup of tea in silence and you’re going to feel calm. You’re going to feel grounded,” he explains. “And that sense of calm is going to impact your morning, your relationships, your work, your productivity.”
The three ‘Ms’ of a perfect morning routine
Dr Chatterjee then went on to explain a set of guidelines to help craft the perfect morning routine.
“I think if you’re trying to create a morning routine that’s going to help you in life, for your health and your happiness, I say ‘think about the three Ms,’” he says.
The three Ms in question are:
- Mindfulness
- Movement
- Mindset
“Those things can be whatever you want them to be for you,” Dr Chatterjee adds. “So for many years, my mindfulness was breath work, I would [then] do a five-minute strength workout while my coffee was brewing and then mindset could be journaling or reading a few pages of an uplifting book.”
“That’s what works for me, that’s what’s worked for many of my patients,” he says.
Spend five minutes doing something that gives you calm
Understanding that not everyone may have time in the morning for such a routine, Dr Chatterjee offered an alternative solution.
“So really my challenge is, even if you think you’re busy, could you spend five minutes first thing in the morning doing something that helps give your brain a sense of calm?” he asks.
“Because that’s the thing, right? These days we feel the world is chaotic, we feel it’s uncertain, we feel that so much of what happens is out of our control and that’s where routines come in, that’s where rituals come in,” he says. “They help to ground you, they help to give you a sense of control in a world that is fundamentally uncontrollable.”
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